Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Oprah Winfrey were in hot water last month
The pair went viral after asking fans to donate to the Maui fund.
And many were shocked by what they had to say.
The internet was pretty annoyed at the two stars.
But now, Johnson has addressed the backlash.
Now, Dwayne Johnson is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world.
With his staggering 6 ft 5 inches, 260 lbs frame, he’d be pretty hard to miss.
But it’s his expressive face (and infamous eyebrows) that really set him apart from the rest.
Let’s face it, everyone loves this guy!
He started out in the world of WWE, where he became one of the greatest wrestlers of all time…
This is where Johnson first earned his nickname “The Rock” — thanks to his ring presence.
However, he decided to try his hand at acting, knowing there was limited longevity in wrestling…
Johnson successfully transitioned his career into this sphere and is now as well known as an actor as he was as a wrestler, which is pretty impressive.
Since starting his acting endeavor, Johnson has been in a whole host of different titles…
Johnson is probably most famous for his performances in the Fast and Furious movies.
He plays Luke Hobbs, an intimidating special agent and self-described “ice-cold can of whoop-a**.”
And this might be his most iconic role!
He even made it to Disney…
Johnson voiced the demigod Maui in the huge Disney hit Moana — complete with an amazing song and rap which sent the internet into hysterics.
But we’ll always know him as The Rock, no matter what he decides to take on…
He’s one of the most famous wrestlers of all time and has numerous titles and awards.
Despite technically retiring from wrestling in 2004, The Rock still makes public appearances from time to time.
Much to his fans’ delight!
So it’s safe to say Johnson has built an enviable career for himself.
Transitioning from one niche area and building an enormous Hollywood career out of it is no mean feat — it’s clear Johnson is a savvy businessman.
And just a genuinely nice guy…
For a long time, many have cited Johnson as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood for countless reasons:
The first being, that he’s always great to his fans.
Frequently posting about meeting them on his social media.
And of course, one of thing that always melts people’s hearts…
He takes care of his mom.
He just seems like an all-around good guy.
Despite this, some fans are becoming pretty irritated with the actor.
One of Johnson’s latest movies was Red Notice, and it got a decent reception from fans…
Although, there were many that weren’t all that impressed.
One took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the movie, writing: “Watching Red Notice on Netflix, with Dwayne Johnson playing the same character Dwayne Johnson always plays.”
And it seems since his latest movie came out, many are echoing this tweet.
Many of his fans have taken to Twitter recently to share the reason they’re losing love for Johnson…
One Twitter user wrote: “not trying to be a hater but can Dwayne Johnson just take a break from being in stuff for like… a year or something. Just give us a breather man lmao.”
That’s right, it seems fans think he’s taking on too much.
And with him appearing in over forty movies since he started out in 1999, we can’t help but agree.
Johnson also came under fire for a polarizing Instagram post.
During the pandemic, he had been spending a lot of time with daughter Tiana – and documenting all the adorableness.
His daughter, Tiana, is too cute for words.
But the picture Johnson posted has been deemed as wildly inappropriate.
He showed a picture of him helping his daughter out to go to the bathroom …
You can see the photo that has got everyone talking here.
Recently, Johnson also opened up to fans about something near and dear to his heart…
His body!
In an interview with Wired, he was asked, “What’s wrong with The Rock’s abs?”
“That’s so f***** up!” he replied.
“I think because, on Instagram, all these Instagram fitness models have these incredible six, eight, 12, 24-pack stomachs.
“I got like a five-and-a-half pack, sometimes a four-and-a-half pack,” Johnson continued.
“But the problem was – which a lot of people don’t know – I tore in a wrestling match, I tore the top of my quad off my pelvis, it went bang, in a wrestling match.
“And then what that did was that caused a chain reaction and it tore my abdomen wall, so then I had to do a triple hernia emergency surgery, of a tear, a tear, and a tear,” he explained.
“So they’re not like perfect abs.
“These f****** a******* who are Googling ‘what’s wrong with The Rock’s abs?’ – well it’s called a wrestling match for 45 minutes and the top of my quad popped off my pelvis, and my adductor popped off my pelvis,” Johnson laughed.
“And the pain I went through… I gotta fix that s***, I’m gonna Google ‘what did The Rock overcome?'” he said.
Now that’s the right attitude.
There have been some other headline-grabbing antics for The Rock recently.
Like the fact his daughter has joined the WWE!
Simone Johnson made history when she appeared on WWE NXT.
This made her the company’s fourth-generation performer in their bloodline.
Her bloodline history goes all the way back to Rocky Johnson during the ’70s of wrestling.
From then on, the legacy was passed down from generation to generation, making her the newest member to join that legacy.
Simone is the first child of Dwayne Johnson and is also the only child of Dany Gracia.
Outside of her wrestling career, Simone is super popular on social media.
Her Instagram account has over 250K followers.
She also shares a special relationship with her father and they are often seen spending quality time together.
Simone regularly accompanies her dad to major red-carpet events.
And Simone signed the contract to join WWE back in February 2020.
SHe’s expected to make her first appearance this year.
Following the historic moment, Johnson said: “First of all, what an honor that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps but more importantly, follow in my footsteps sounds cliché, but she actually wants to create and blaze her own path, which is so important.”
Johnson was also in a recent news story for a heartwarming righting of wrongs!
He opened up about righting a wrong in a 7-Eleven store in Hawaii…
“We were evicted from Hawaii in ‘87 and after all these years – I finally got back home to right this wrong,” he explained on Instagram.
When he was a broke kid, he claimed he used to steal a Snickers bar very often…
In fact, he claimed it happened almost every day!
“The same clerk was there every day and always just turned her head and never busted me!
“I’ve exercised a few big demons over the years (I still have a few left;) so I know this one seems VERY SILLY, but every time I come back home to Hawaii and drive by 7-11… I always knew I needed to go in and clean out every Snickers bar they had – the right way,” he wrote.
Johnson bought every single Snickers bar in the store — plus, picked up the tab for other customers’ shopping!
“Least I could do considering all the s*** I used to steal from here.
“We can’t change the past and some of the dumb stuff we may have done, but every once in a while we can add a little redeeming grace note to that situation — and maybe put a big smile on some stranger’s faces,” he said.
Take a look at the post here.
And recently, Johnson has hit headlines again.
And it’s for an incredible act of generosity!
Johnson bought his cousin a house!
He shared the news in a heartwarming Instagram post.
“This one felt good.
Surprise cuz — enjoy your new home!!” he wrote.
“It’s so damn hard to make it as a pro wrestler. And it’s even way harder to make it if you’re a woman.
“Sarona (like many amazing women in pro wrestling) made her mind up long ago that she was gonna walk the walk and earn her respect in pro wrestling and make sure that the hard times she’s experienced were always her REASON to WORK HARDER and never let it become the EXCUSE to GIVE UP,” he continued on.
”Man this girl’s gone thru some tough times, but regardless of what life’s thrown her way – she was ALWAYS determined to break the cycle and become a strong and inspiring single mom example to her two greatest inspirations — her daughters,
Milaneta & Maleata.”
How adorable!
He’s also been in the headlines for a rather heartbreaking reason.
In an interview with The Pivot, Johnson opened up about some personal struggles.
He spoke about his struggles with mental health, and how it’s been something he’s been dealing with for over a decade.
“I left school, but the interesting thing at the time is, I didn’t know what mental health was. I didn’t know what depression was. I just knew I didn’t want to be there,” he said.
He then explained that he continued to struggle with depression after his college football career ended and, later, after his divorce to his first wife Dany Garcia in 2008.
“I knew what it was at that time and luckily I had some friends that I could lean on and say, ‘Hey I’m feeling a little wobbly now. I got a little struggle happening.'”
“I’ve worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools to work through any mental pain that may come to test me. As men, we didn’t talk about it. We just kept our head down and worked through it. Not healthy, but it’s all we knew,” said Johnson.
But recently, the internet was feeling rather less sympathetic to the star.
As Johnson, alongside Oprah Winfrey, asked fans to donate to the Maui wildfire fund.
“We are honored to start this campaign with $10 million dollars and ask for your help in donating to those who have lost their homes. We thank you in advance for your contribution,” they shared on Instagram.
However, fans had a less than positive response.
“Math ain’t mathing with this one. You guys literally have so much money…. You can donate it and make it back within a year,” one fan wrote.
Another added: “I support Maui and the cause. But why are you asking us common folk who live paycheck to paycheck. We struggle to put food on table. Who helps us?”
And now, Johnson has addressed the backlash.
“When we first launched the fund, there was some backlash,” he posted on Instagram.
“And I want to address and acknowledge that backlash right now, and here’s what I have to say about that.”
“I get it. And I completely understand. And I could have been better, and next time I will be better. I understand money ain’t falling out of the sky and it’s not growing on trees,” continued Johnson.
“There’s a lot of people out there who’s living paycheck to paycheck and I get it and I know what that’s like. I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck,” said Johnson.
“I know what that’s like and when you are living paycheck to paycheck, I don’t wanna speak for everybody I’ll speak for myself, but I feel it’s connected.”
“When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, I was easily pissed off and I was frustrated, and the last thing you wanna hear when you’re living paycheck to paycheck is someone asking you for money, especially when the person asking you for money already has a lot of money. So I get it, I understand, I never launched a fund before but I’m a quick study, and lesson learned,” he concluded.
Do you forgive him?